Price of Freedom
by penchou
Summary: When the Titans invaded the land, two captives finds solace in each other as they plan on their escape. [rivetra]::[AU]


_I had trouble trying to re-write this but I finally decided to stick with this. This is a re-post, so if anyone recognizes this sorry btw, that's why. This is still the prologue and please bear with me on the updates._

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The white noise dies out and voices from various people around the area fill her ears and the feeling of distraction calms her down. She doesn't know why she's hearing all of this. She was supposed to be dead by now. The copper haired female does not even know who they are nor does she even care at the moment. Opening her eyes, she finds the strength to pull herself in a sitting position but with the pain searing from her spinal cord, she thinks she's hallucinating.

Suddenly faint memories of blood and gore cloud her vision and she breathes out a gasp. She picks herself up from the ground and she notices the rubble she is lying on. The dust clings at her clothes and she coughs. The short statured female surveys her surroundings, unbeknownst to her the screams of terror from people became silent.

The entire place was in ruins. Smoke can be seen floating from the ground and there were even evidences that explosions happened from the burning buildings. Debris of concrete lay on the ground, while others can be seen sticking out metal poles from the inside and then she remembers. Her supposed fiery hair now covered with dirt and rubble whishes in the air as she whips her head to search for her friend.

She takes a step forward but shortly lost her balance, the pain from her back doubles, fortunately she catches herself before falling down. A hiss escapes her lips and she forces herself to continue forward, right hand behind her back for support.

The search for her friends was cut short when she spots sandy blonde hair sticking out from under a chunk of concrete. She hurries to the figure's side and attempts to carry the piece of concrete away from the body. It took almost her all of her energy to carry the concrete and the aching back of hers is not helping either, especially when she's alone. When the obstruction was removed, she bites back a sob.

"Aurou…" It was a mere whisper, so quiet enough only for her and him.

He does not respond.

His head is nothing but bloodied and scarred with wounds from the concrete. A tongue was sticking out from the mouth and red liquid seeped from it and onto the ground, eyes wide open from shock. His upper body though is covered with dust but she's sure that his lungs collapsed with the huge amount of weight hindering his breathing.

She looks up from his body and closes her amber eyes shut. She won't break down now. Not here when she has to look for any more survivors .She opens them and looks down on her fallen friend, gently closing his eyes. She mutters her goodbyes, hoping he can hear her. A bittersweet smile on her face.

Sounds of footsteps shook her out of her stupor, and she hastily but carefully stands up.

By the sounds of it, they're not far away and neither are they a friend. She searches for shelter, anything to hide her presence. There isn't any good hiding place, only a long and wide range of former buildings collapsing into pieces, and her face pales at the thought of getting captured.

A hand from behind catches her in surprise and covers her mouth. An arm snaked on her midsection and takes a hold of her small hands, taking away all chances of her escaping from her captor's hold.

She does not want to die. Please not now. Oh god, she's still too young to die. A tear cascaded down her face as she continues to squirm from her captor's hold. The continuing sounds of footsteps of their enemy nearing.

"Calm down Pet. It's just me."

She closes her eyes and releases a sigh that is still covered by her recently found other friend. Thank god, he's still alive.

He releases her slowly and places his hands on her sides, steadying her as she wipes the tear off her eyes.

"You scared me Erd." She playfully hits his side and he takes it with no complaints.

He does not say anything after that, his expression turned into that of sorrow as he turned his head low. She also does not say anything, knowing that the corpse below them is the reason.

"Petra, let's go." With no moments of hesitation, Erd grabs her arm and makes a run for it.

The impact of the pull caused her back to ache even more but she chose not to cry out. A groan instead comes out of her throat. Petra does not stop running until she realized that they're missing one more. She pulls on her taller friend's arm to indicate that they should stop.

"Where's Gunther?" Erd dares not to look at her and she can tell that Gunther's dead too.

Thunderous hooves of the horses of what she assumed to be of the invading forces made its presence known and the both of them gulped, the heavy feeling of dread coming to a reality.

It's too late to run now.


End file.
